The mobile phone industry has reason to be happy in the first quarter of 2009, with most companies reporting improved sales and better product ratings across the board. Rogers Wireless can now be added to that list as well.
Even with a “global economic crisis,” Rogers was able to pull an upswing of postpaid subscriptions with a total of 104,000 for the company. That’s a pretty good number by any standards and Rogers is most pleased with it.
Data revenue also went up by 43%, which means that the company earned more for phone downloads and other stuff. The increase in data revenue is probably something felt consistently across the board, with products like the iPhone providing more ways for individuals to mindlessly download and swap files without regard for the fees. The new, flashy devices are a boom to the providers now, but people will sooner or later adapt to the cost and will likely be more frugal with the app downloads.
Most impressively for Rogers, however, was the notion that smartphone activations was at a whopping 360,000 for the first quarter of 2009 alone. That means that a hell of a lot of people are checking out the smartphone products, like the BlackBerry and iPhone devices, and are signing up for service plans in droves. 40% of this number was for brand new applicants, while the remainder of the customers came from upgrading older models.
“The strength of our franchises is reflected in our first quarter results. We delivered positive subscriber trends, expanded margins, and accelerated data revenue growth at Wireless. We will build upon our solid foundation by driving continuous enhancements to our customer experience, by improving our operating and capital efficiency and by continuing to deliver innovative services and leading edge technologies that our customers have come to expect,” said president and CEO of Rogers Nadir Mohamed.
With Rogers and the other cell phone companies on the upswing, it’s safe to say that there is at least one industry that isn’t failing in these trying times.
